A painter cutting in to any object such as a window or door casing or any trim molding which is a different colour than the paint he is using may have trouble seeing the exact transition from one surface to the other. This is especially the case in new construction of homes and light commercial projects where it is standard to use portable work lights with as much as 500 watt bulbs moved from room to room by the painter as needed. These high-powered lights cause a lot of dark shadows. Shadows may be caused by the painter's hand or trim mould, which may be between the high-powered light and the crucial work area. This set-up causes frustration, inconvenience, and lost time by the painter in the numerous times it takes to reposition the light to avoid shadows for each trim area to be cut to. This is especially true over the winter months when there is a very limited amount of daylight in each day, and work lights are required as the only source of light.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,770, issued Oct. 31, 2006, discloses an LED brush. The brush in this patent is a thin, pencil-styled brush with an illuminated transparent handle, directing light from the end of the handle and the sides of the handle. Batteries are stored within the housing, and power a seven-color LED module made of three light emitting diodes. The transparent handle illuminated by a seven-colour LED module has a module controller. The brush may have various brush heads selected from a group of blush brush, finishing trim, eye shadow, eye comb, mini brush, concealer brush, foundation brush, powder brush, eye shadow brush, small slanted brush, lip brush, and eyebrow or eyelash brush.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0215391, filed Sep. 28, 2006, is an addition to patent application Ser. No. 11/088,294 filed Mar. 24, 2005, titled “Lighted Cleaning Implement.” This prior art relates to a wide variety of cleaning equipment. The patent application discloses an invention generally related to cleaning implements, such as brooms, mops, whisk brooms, coating applicators, dusters, and brushes and more particularly, relates to illuminating features incorporated in hand-held detail brushes and other implements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,733, issued Jun. 15, 1993, discloses a style of paintbrush assembled from five main parts including: a main handle with a shoulder and a rabbited end in which the brush panel(s) are fit; bristle panels consisting of bristles bound by a back in the form of a flat body; a clamping plate has a hole designed for the head of a thumbscrew to go through; a typical washer; and a thumbscrew. Once the handle bristles and the clamping plate are in place the washer and thumbscrew are installed, which tightens the group together as one.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0148058, filed Oct. 17, 2002, describes a 2-part paintbrush comprised of a handle subassembly and a brush subassembly. The handle sides of handle subassemblies are molded of plastic as opposite sides and sonically welded or glued together. All the handle types described have a hollow cavity, with an open forward end (referred to as a tool connecter), and two openings referred to as windows. These are located directly across from each other, at the location of where the handle widens. The brush subassembly consists of these major parts, a) a bristle pack with a pack base; b) a brush ferrule (of various styles); and c) a handle connecter or linking assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,749, issued Nov. 1, 1994, relates to an improvement for a paintbrush described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,269, issued Jan. 22, 1985, and involves using of a headless pin for mounting the bristle portion onto the handle of the brush. This patent discloses 3-part paintbrush. One part is a handle made of plastic or light metal, with one end being in the form of an open tubular body of a generally rectangular shape. The second part is a bristle portion, comprised of a retaining member, in the form of an open tubular body, generally rectangular shaped, of which the bristles or sponge are fixed by adhesive. The final part is a pin molded from plastic or light metal held by apertures formed on the opposite walls of the connecting chamber due to tight tolerance.
There is a need for a paintbrush that does not require the constant moving and reposition of a work light. The work light may simply remain in the center of the room and the lighted paintbrush of the present invention gives all other light exactly where it is required by the person cutting into areas such as door or window casings where a straight line is crucial.
There is a need for a paintbrush that would cut down on touchups that are routinely done at the end of construction when all the permanent light fixtures are mounted into place. There is a further need to have replaceable bristles so as not to have to throw the whole paintbrush away when the bristles have reached the point of no longer suitable of achieving a professional job. There is also a need to ensure that the paintbrush parts are detachable including battery, on/off switch, light pack, clear lens, and main paintbrush handle. There is a further need to protect the lights on a paintbrush as the lights, wires, and power source, do not mix with cleaning fluids, including water and solvents and to make cleanup as simple as possible.